Industrial Photography at Fletcher Moorland

Industrial Photography commission

I had a couple of great days at Fletcher Moorland in Stoke on Trent, they are a specialist repair and servicing company for a wide sector from electro mechanical, HMI, to servo repairs.

To be honest I just pulled that from their website, to me it looked like all manner of Motors small to huge and complicated electrical repairs to circuit boards and monitors and a lot lot more.

Photographically it was a relatively clean factory as they all tend to be these day, gone seemed to be the days of a coating of oil and swarf an inch deep on the floor.

The two days where split into the emerging different disciplines within commercial and Industrial photography, that is from the Staged and set up to the reportage and found, they both have their merits.

Commissioned by Lesniak Swann also from Stoke, the brief was to produce that extreme shallow focus jewel like images of the repair processes alongside a more structured staged set up imagery.

Day 1 set up shots,

Matt Fletcher was on hand to brief us on the importance of showing the right repaired equipment and also some of their prestigious clients ranging from Siemens, Michelin to JCBThe day went well, they where all briefed and up for it, and nothing was too much trouble, with sandwich’s and drinks provided, but as usual time ran out.With these more controlled images the empathises is on the crafted light and the more ridged poses with focus determined and the knowledge this image would cover a A3 with no degradation.

Day 2 reportage,

A less structured day, taking the ISO to 1200 using the lighter Canon 5d 111 with a mostly prime 1.8- 50mm, although it seemed quite light in there in the UK in winter it might as well be night time, here I was left to my own devices wondering around taking pictures of the work as it unfolded in front of me, this is a free and liberating experience from the restrictions of Tripods, lights and static shots that you always struggle to look unposed. The result have a unique feel with its shallow depth of field and natural ambient light I think the natural more fluid shots from the second day work best, conveying the atmosphere of focused and passionate work and the people…